Welt-attaching apparatus.



APPLIOATION TILED 1130.5,1907.

Patented Sept 20,1910.

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' G. GODDU.

WELT ATTACHING APPARATUS. APPLICATION IQILED 1130.5,1907- 970,702. Patened-Sept.20,1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE GODDU, OF WINCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

WELT-ATTACHING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 20, 1910.

Application filed December 5, 1907. Serial No. 405,214.

To all whom it may concern:

,chester, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Welt-Attaching Apparatus, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characterson the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

5 This invention relates to machines used in the manufacture of boots and shoes for whereby cuts may be made into the welt be-.

ing operated upon transversely to its line or curvature to facilitate its attachment to curved portions of the stock. Thesecuts, which may be in the nature of slits extending through the welt in one direction and partly through it in theother direction, are preferably formed upon that side of the welt which will be concealed in the finished shoe, and, when conditions warrant, are preferably formed upon the inner side of the curved portions of the welt, in order that the adjacent portions ofthe tongues formed by successive slits may be overlap ed and fastened together coincidentally with their attachment to the stock. To facilitate overlapping and at the same time to provide for a greater overlapping of the adjacent tongues the slits are preferably inclined to the surface of the welt.

An object of the present invention is to provide, in a machine for attaching a welt to stock improved means for slitting those portions of the welt which it is desirable to have slitted both for convenience of attachment and for the sake ofthe appearance of the finished work. In order that the slitting means may be used with work of different sizes and dimensions to slit only those portions of the welt which it is advantageous to slit, the operation of said meansis preferably under the control of the operator, and means is preferably provided for rendering the slitting means inoperative one direction.

without affecting the operation of the attaching means.

An lmportant object of the invention is to provide means of the character specified which will act upon the welt in the slitting operation in such manner that it will be unnecessary to clamp the welt against longitudinal movement. The provision of slitting means operating in the manner just described renders unnecessary an intermittently operated welt clamping mechanism and permits the employment of novel clamping means whereby the welt is held against transverse movement with the slitting means while being free to move longitudinally. This object is attained in the preferred embodiment of the inventlon by providing welt slitting means which operates to slit the welt from the edge inward, thus insuring a clean cut entirely through the welt in In the preferred embodiment of the invention the slitting means is arranged to operate in a single plane inclined to the surface of the welt whereby the surfaces upon each side of the slit may be in continuous contact throughout their overlapping portions, as one slides over the other during the attaching operation.

7 The invention has for its object also the provision of guiding means for the welt, and 'a very important novel feature of the invention is the provision of means for holding and guiding a beveled welt for the action of a slitting means operating in the manner above set forth. Said last-named means is preferably constructed to hold the welt firmly close to the path of the slitting knife whereby a cutting action partaking of the nature of shearing may be obtained.

Another object of the invention is to provide a welt slitting mechanism of the kind hereinbefore specified which may be readily attached to, and brought into cooperative relation with, a welt attaching machine.

for actuating the slitting means is preferably arranged to be connected to, and disconnected from, said slitting means. The slitting means is therefore preferably arranged to be moved yieldingly into its operative position whereby it may be returned automatically to its position of rest even though the actuating means be disconnected while it is still in its operative position.

In addition to the broad features of invention hereinbefore pointed out, it will be noted that the illustrated preferred embodiment of the invention includes also novel details of construction. For these, as well as for the broad features, protection will be sought in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of this invention, Figure 1 shows in front elevation the head of a machine for inserting fastenings provided with welt slitting means of the type herein described; Fig. 2 shows in side elevation the operative connections between the welt slitting mechanism and the fastening forming and inserting mechanism; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the welt slitting mechanism and the work feeding mechanism, the welt slitting mechanism being shown as provided with a guide for a straight welt; Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a section through the welt guiding and clamping mechanism illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the welt slitting mechanism arranged to slit a beveled welt; Fig. 7 shows a modification of the invention with a welt slitting knife so inclined with respect to the welt that the upper lips of the slits project over the adjacent tongues in the dircction of the feed of the welt; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a portion of straight welt slitted by the mechanism illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5.

For convenience of illustration this invention is shown as embodied in-a fastening inserting machine of the kind described and illustrated in United States Letters Patent to L. Goddu, l O. 490,625, dated January 24, 1893, and in United States Letters Patent to L. A. Casgrain, No. 611,405, dated September 27, 1898, to which Letters Patent reference may be had for a more detailed description of parts herein illustrated but not fully described, such description being unnecessary for a complete understanding of the invention of this application.

The nose 2 in which operates a driver 4 carried by a driver bar 6, the lever 8 carrying the movable cutter of the fastening severing mechanism, the cam roll 10 upon the upper end of said lever bearing against a cam 12 upon the main shaft 13 and held in engagement with said cam by a spring 14 attached to the machine frame at one end and bearing at the other end against the upper end of said lever 8, the feed wheel 16 and the feed table 18 carried by a rod 20 vertically movable in a guide 22 are illustrated and described in detail in the Letters Patent above referred to. The stock to which the welt or rand is to be attached, which may be a shoe sole, is placed upon the feed table 18 and the welt lying upon the stock is engaged by the feed wheel 16, whereby the welt and stock are fed together beneath the nose 2 of the fastening inserting mechanism. As the attachment of the welt to the stock proceeds the operator will at times cause the welt slitting mechanism to be actuated in order to slit the welt to facilitate its attachment, such actuation being usually effected when the welt is to be attached to curved portions of the work. The welt slitting mechanism is so located with reference to the attaching mechanism that the operator may readily judge the point upon the work at Which the portion of welt lying in the slitting mechanism in position to be operated upon by the slitting means will be attached and can therefore cause to be slitted only those portions of the welt which it is advantageous to slit for proper attachment. In the present construction, the welt slitting mechanism is carried by a bracket 24 attached to the machine frame. Pivoted upon a stud 26 which is attached to the bracket and is inclined somewhat to the path of movement of the welt, is a knifecarrying lever 28, the hub of said lever being confined between the bracket and a flange 29 upon the stud 26. The knife-carrying lever is held by a spring 30, engaging at one end a pin in the stud 26 and at its other end entering a hole in the hub of said lever, yieldingly in such position that a shoulder upon said lever abuts against a stop 32 formed upon the bracket.

Adj'ustably confined in a groove in a downwardly offset portion of one arm of the lever 28 is a knife 34, said knife having a slot throu h which passes a set screw 36, a plate 38 through which said set screw also passes serving to aid in properly confining the knife in the groove in the lever. The other arm of the lever 28 has a bearing stud 40 arranged to be received in a slot in an extension member 42 having a stem 43 adjustably confined in a link 44 by a set screw 46'. The member 42 is extended beyond the stud-receiving slot and there rests upon a lifting arm 48 rigidly attached to a rock-shaft 50 and pressed against one of the bearings of said rock-shaft by a spring 52. Upon the lower side of said rock-shaft the lifting arm has a depending tail adapted to engage the lower side of a stop 55 (see Fig. 4) formed upon the bracket as the arm is rocked to lift the link 44. The upper side of said stop 55 is arranged to be engaged by said arm when it rocks in the other direction. Rocking of the arm 48 may be effected by a crank 54 integral with the rock-shaft 50. The link 44 is pivotally connected to the lower end of a lever 56, the lever 56 being forked at its upper end and being pivotally connected to a T-shaped stud 60 upon the machine frame by a bolt 58 passing through the fork members and through the head of the stud. A spring-pressed pin 62 mounted in a socket upon an enlargement of the lower end of the lever 56 bears upon the link 44 and tends to press its extension member 42 into engagement with the lifting arm 48. A stud 64 upon the cutter-carrying lever 8 is confined by a bolt and washer in a slot 66 in the lever 56 and serves to transmit the oscillations of the cutter'carrying lever to the lever 56.

WVhen the lifting arm 48 is in the position shown in Fig. 1 and the stud 40 rests in the slot in the extension member 42 of the link 44, the oscillations transmitted to the lever 56 from the cutter-carrying lever 8 will be transmitted also to the knife-carrying lever 28 and the knife 84 will be caused to slit the welt lying in the welt guide from the edge inward. The welt guide comprises a supporting table 68 having upon the side away from the welt slitting knife a retaining wall and provided with a groove 70 in which the Welt slitting knife travels.

\Vhen a straight welt is being operated upon, that is a welt substantially rectangular in cross-section, welt clamping mechanism such as that shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 7 is provided. This clamping mechanism comprises a clamp member 72 arched over the path of the cutting movement of the knife 34 and provided with lugs 74, 7 6 engaging the edge of the welt upon each side of said path. The clamp member 72 is clamped to a rock-shaft 7-8 mounted in bearings in the bracket 24 and having a knob 7 9 by which it may be moved laterally in its bearings as well as rocked. The rock-shaft 78 is extended beyond the inner bearing and is surrounded by a spring 80 engaging at one end a pin 81 passed through the rock-shaft and at its other end entering an opening in the bracket 24. The end of the spring which engages the pin 81 is hooked around said pin so that the spring tends not only to hold the rock-shaft against movement toward the front of the machine but also to hold the rock-shaft yieldingly against rotation in a counter clockwise direction when viewed as in Fig. 1. The spring 80, as shown in Fig. 4, is compressed longitudinally and is under torsional tension tending to cause it to rotate the rock-shaft in such direction as to lift the clamp member 72 from the supporting table 68. The clamp member 72 is pressed yieldingly toward the table 68 by a plate spring 82 attached to the bracket 24 and bearing at one end upon a lug 84 upon the upper side of said clamp member 72. The spring 82 exerts a downward pressure upon the clamp member 72 stronger than the upward pressure produced by the torsional tension of the spring 80 acting through the rock-shaft 78. When it is desired to introduce a welt between the clamp member 7 2 and the table 68 the knob 79 is gripped by the operator, and the rockshaft 78, and with it the clamp member 7 2, are pulled toward the front of the machine, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. As the clamp member '72 moves forward, the lug 84 upon its upper side moves beyond the front edge of the spring 82 and the spring 80 then causes the clamp member 7 2 to move upward, thus providing a larger space between the clamp member and the table 68. The end of the spring 82 is adapted to engage the rear edge of the lug 84 and retain the clamp member 72 in its forward position until it is again moved downward by the operator.

hen a beveled welt is to be operated upon, the clamping mechanism illustrated in Fig. 6 is employed. For the clamp member 72 is substituted a clamp member 86, beveled on its under side to correspond substantially to the bevel of the welt to be operated upon and having its upper surface so positioned that the slitting knife 34 travels over it in the slitting operation and makes a slit substantially parallel to the engaging edge of said member 86, the upper surface of said member lying in a plane substantially parallel to the plane in which the knife 34 operates.

To prevent the member 86 from being pushed up into the path of the knife by the welt, or otherwise, a rigid retaining plate 87 is clamped to the bracket 24 in such position that its forward end projects over the clamp member 86. The clamp member 86 is arranged to coiiperate with a spring member 88 attached at one end to the table 68 and extending over a recess in the table to a point adjacent to the path of cutting movement of the knife 34, the upper surface of the spring member 88 being sloped off at its end adjacent to the path of cutting movement of the knife 34 to correspond approximately to inclination of the cutting plane of said knife and to the inclii'iation of the upper surface of the clamp member 86.

Attached to the upper surface of the clamp member 86 is a spring member 90 extending forward beyond the path of the cutting movement of the knife 34 and having a downwardly projecting finger 92 sharpened at its lower edge and inclined toward the rear wall of the table 68 in the direction of feed movement of the welt, whereby it tends not only to prevent the welt from moving away from said wall but also travel freely under it.

tends to force it toward said wall as the welt is fed along toward the fastening inserting mechanism. Vhen it is desired to insert a welt bet-ween the clamp member 86 on the one hand and the table 68 and the spring 88 on the other hand, the clamp member 86 is pulled toward the front of the machine as in the case of the clamp member 72. The clamp member 86 does not, however, rock upwardly as does the clamp member 72, this not being necessary since the movement toward the front effects an increase in the average depth of the space between the clamp member and the table and spring into which the welt is to be introduced. After the welt has been introduced between the clamp member and the table and spring, the operator releases the knob 79, and the spring 80 moves the clamp member back, pressing the welt against the rear wall of the table (38 and at the same time pressing the narrow edge of the welt down upon the spring member 88. The spring member 88 is provided with sharp longitudinal corrugations (see Fig. against which the member 86 presses the welt, and these corrugations prevent the thin edge of the welt from being carried backward with the knife as it moves to slit the edge, while permitting the welt to be moved freely in the direction of its feed movement.

It will be noted in Figs. 6 and 8 that the slits are inclined to the surface of the welt in such a way that the upper lips of the slits overlap the adjacent tongues in a direction opposed to that of the feed movement of the welt.

In the modification of the invention illustrated in Fig. 7 the slitting knife is arranged to slit the welt in such manner that the up per lips of the slits will overlap the adjacent tongues in the direction of feed movement of the welt. A construction like that shown in Fig. 7 has some advantages, since the lips formed upon succeeding tongues will ride readily over the sides of the preceding attached tongues.

The construction shown in Fig. 7 is provided with clamping means for a straight welt. The slitting knife 340, inclined as shown in this figure, travels in a correspond ingly inclined groove 700 in the table 68 and the clamping member 720 is so arched that the forwardly projecting lips of the slits will To prevent the for wardly projecting lips from catching against the nose 2 of the fastening-inserting mechanism said nose is provided with a lip laying projection 100.

The operation of the welt slitting mechanism may be briefly described as follows: The stock to which the welt is to be attached is laid upon the table 18, and the welt drawn through a loop 94 and through the guiding and clamping mechanism, which forms a part of the welt slitting attachment, is placed upon the stock with its outer edge lying beneath the feed wheel 16. If the welt is to be attached first to a straight portion of the stock, the crank 54 is moved to the right in Fig. 1 so that the lifting arm 48 raises the slot in the extension 42 of the link 44 above the stud 40 of the knife-carrying lever 28 and holds it in this position. noted that the portion of the bracket adjacent to the arm 48 is provided with V-shaped notches with which cooperates a projection upon the arm 48 to cause the arm to be held yieldingly in its operative and inoperative positions, respectively. Movement of the crank 54 to the right thus disconnects the welt slitting mechanism from the fasteningforming mechanism, and the welt which is to be attached to the straight portion of the stock will not be slitted. As a curved portion of the stock approaches the inserting mechanism, the operator will move the crank 54 to the left when he sees that the portion of the welt which is to be attached to this curved portion of the stock is lying in position to be operated upon by the slitting knife, and the link 44 will be pressed downward by the spring pin 62, thus causing the slot in the extension 42 to drop over the stud 40 of the knifecarrying lever 28, thereby transmitting to said knife lever, through the lever 56 and the link 44, the oscillations of the cutter-carrying lever 8. The knife lever 34 will thus be oscillated at each fas tening-forming operation and the welt will be provided with a slit for each fastening inserted. hen a straight portion of the stock again approaches, the operator will again swing the crank 54 to the right and the slitting mechanism will again be thrown out of operation. It will thus be seen that the slitting can be confined to those portions of 1%16 welt only which it is advantageous to s it.

In United States Letters Patent No. 896,293, granted August 18, 1908, for welt attaching apparatus, has been disclosed the broad combination with welt attaching means of controllable welt slitting means located in proximity to the welt attaching means for slitting the welt at the will of the operator during the attaching operation. Claims to this broad combination will therefore not be made in the present application.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a machine for attaching a welt to stock, the combination with welt slitting means constructed and arranged to move in the slitting operation from the edge of the welt inward, of means under the control of the operator for actuating said slitting means to slit selected portions of the welt as it is being attached.

It will bev 2. In a machine of the class described, the combination with means to support a welt,

of a welt-slitting knife arranged to operate combination with a welt guide, of welt-slit ting means arranged to oscillate in a plane inclined to the surface of the welt in the welt guide, and means to actuate said slitting means to slit the welt and in the slitting operation to move from the edge inward.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a welt guide and yielding means for clamping welts of various dimensions in said guide, of a slitting knife arranged to slit the welt in said guide from the edge inward.

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination with welt-supporting means, of a slitting knife arranged to slit the welt from the edge inward, and means to hold said welt against movement with the knife.

(3. In a machine of the class described, the combination with welt-slitting means arranged to slit the welt and in the slitting operation to move from the edge inward, of welt-clamping means comprising a yielding support upon which the welt rests.

7. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a welt-slitting knife arranged to slit the welt from the edge inward, of weltclamping means constructed and arranged to hold the welt against movement with the slitting knife while permitting the welt to be moved transversely to the path of movement of the slitting means.

8. In a machine for attaching a welt to stock, the combination with a welt-slitting knife arranged to slit the welt from the edge inward, of welt-clamping means, said clamping means being provided with a toothed surface to prevent movement of the welt with the slitting knife.

9. In a machine of the class described, the combination with welt-slitting means arranged to slit the welt and in the slitting operation to move from the edge inward, of welt guiding and clamping means comprising a guideway open at one side, a clamp member constructed and arranged to engage the welt upon its upper face and also at one side and to press said welt both against the side and-upon the bed of the guideway.

10. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a welt-slitting knife arnnged to slit the welt from the edge inward, of a welt guide, and means for clamping the welt in the welt guide, said means being constructed to engage the welt upon opposite sides of the point of operation of the knife and arranged to press the welt against one side of the guide.

11. In a machine of the class described the combination with welt-slitting means arranged to slit the welt from the edge inward, of weltclamping means comprising a laterally yielding clamp member extending along the welt and engaging the welt at each side of the point of operation of the slitting means.

12. In a machine for attaching a welt to stock, the combination with welt-slitting means arranged to slit the welt from the edge inward, of means for guiding and hold ing a beveled welt for the action of said slitting means, said guiding and holding means being constructed and arranged to hold the thinner edge of the beveled welt in position to be operated upon by said slitting means and to hold said edge against movementwith said slitting means.

13. In a machine of the class described, the combination with slitting means arranged to slit a welt from the edge inward, of means for clamping a beveled welt with its thinner edge in position to be operated upon by said slitting means, said clamping means having a clamping edge extending along the path of operation of said slitting means,

14. In a machine of the class described, the combination with welt slitting means, of means for clamping a welt in position to be operated upon by said slitting means, said clamping means having a clamping edge extending along the path of operation of said slitting means and over which said slitting means travels in. the slitting operation.

15. In a machine of the class described, the combination with welt-slitting means arranged to slit a welt from the edge inward, of means for clamping a beveled welt for the action of said slitting means, said clamping means comprising a member over which and along the edge of which the slitting means travels and a yielding member ar ranged to press the welt against said first named member.

16. In a machine of the class described, the combination with slitting means ar ranged to slit a welt from the edge inward, of a welt guide and means for clamping the welt in said guide, said means comprising portions engaging the welt upon opposite sides of the point of operation of the slitting means, one of said portions being constructed and arranged to cause the welt to be forced against the side of the welt guide as it is moved longitudinally of said guide.

17. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a welt guide, of means for clamping the welt in said guide, said means being so constructed and arranged that by its lateral movement it automatically effects an increase in the average depth as well as an increase in the breadth of the space intervening between it and said guide in which the welt is confined.

18. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a welt guide, of means for clamping the welt in said guide, said means comprising a clamp member engaging the upper surface and edge of said welt, and a yielding member engaging the under side of said welt, means for causing said first-named member to press the welt yieldingly against the side of the welt guide, and means for effecting a lateral movement of said member to permit the welt to be placed in said guide.

19. In a machine of the class described, the combination with welt-supporting means, of a' welt-slitting knife mounted to oscillate in its welt-slitting movement and provided with means for holding it yieldingly away from said welt, means for moving said knife toward and away from said Welt, and means for disconnecting said moving means whereby the knife may be automatically returned to its position of rest.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE GODDU.

WVitnesses:

H. DORSEY SPENCER, FREDERICK L. EDMANDS 

